The present invention relates generally to game systems, and, more particularly, to game systems which are superficially similar to bingo but which provide a number of significant advantages.
Very briefly, in ordinary bingo the basic elements are a set of game cards (one or several game cards for each player), and a random number generating device, such as an airball machine. Each playing card or game card has printed thereon a series of numbers, typically selected from the set of integer numbers from 1 through 75 (although other number sets may be employed), organized as five rows by five columns. The five columns are respectively designated "B", "I", "N", "G", and "O". On the printed game cards, within each column the five positions are filled with a random sequence of numbers from one-fifth of the total number set. Thus, for a number set from 1 through 75, the individual positions of the first column are filled with a sequence of numbers from the subset of integers from 1 through 15; the second column is filled with a sequence of numbers from the subset of integers from 16 through 30; the third column is filled with a sequence of numbers from the subset of integers from 31 through 45; the fourth column is filled with a sequence of integers from the subset of integers from 46 through 60; and the fifth column is filled with a sequence of numbers from the subset of integers from 61 through 75. Duplicate numbers do not appear within a column, (nor on an individual bingo game card in its entirety). Generally, the center position of the game card, that is the third position in the third row, is designated as a free space. Some number sequences are generally excluded as being unacceptable to bingo players; for example, a card in which the numbers "1-2-3-4-5" appear consecutively in a single column would not be permitted.
During the playing of a game of bingo, typically in a bingo hall where a number of players are assembled, a set of balls individually numbered from 1 through 75, and additionally bearing a redundant column designation "B", "I", "N", "G" or "O", are placed in an appropriate bin or hopper, for example of an airball machine. The game operator or "caller" specifies a shape or pattern to be formed on the game card. The balls are then randomly drawn or otherwise selected, and the column designation and number are "called" from each ball. (The redundant column designation is used only for rapid identification and location of the number, as the card column headings correspond to the number range to be located in each column.) With each call, players with the corresponding number on their game card "mark" the number position on their game card in an appropriate manner. The object of the game is to be the first player to have a set of randomly called numbers coincide with the marked numbers on the player's game card so as to form the specified shape or pattern. The winning shape or pattern varies depending upon the particular version of bingo being played. Examples of winning patterns include all five positions in a column, all five positions in a row, all five positions in either diagonal, all sixteen positions around the edge of the game card (a "frame"), and all positions on the entire card.
Although the total number of unique bingo card faces that can be generated employing the number set from 1 through 75 is a large number, calculated for example in Pocock et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,802 as 3005.sup.5 =244,217,432,431,255,243, bingo card faces, are commonly printed in much smaller "lots" or "series", such as a series of 300, 600, 6,000, 9,000, 18,000, 36,000 or 72,000 unique card faces. (For the convenience of players, multiple card faces may be printed on a single sheet of paper, typically from two to eight card faces per sheet.) The card faces of a given "series" are carefully designed so that each number of the number set (for example the numbers from 1 through 75) appears on at least one of the cards of the series. Thus, during the playing of an actual game of bingo, the total number of card faces in the series is advantageously matched to the number of card faces actually being played so that, each time a number is called, at least one player is able to mark a card face.
Bingo, as typically implemented, proceeds relatively rapidly. While the duration of any given game of bingo cannot be exactly predicted, based on laws of mathematical probability, in a typical situation with five hundred players playing two thousand card faces, on average a winner results after approximately twenty-five to fifty "calls", and a single game of bingo has a duration of approximately ten to thirty minutes, depending on the pattern version.
While bingo is traditionally played in bingo halls, more recently various systems have been proposed for playing bingo over a large geographic area employing appropriate player terminal equipment and a communication network, preferably a network which supports interaction. Examples of such systems are disclosed in Timms U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,686, the above-referenced Pocock et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,802, and Fioretti U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,970.
Bingo, although highly popular, is subject to a number of limitations, particularly when the number of players is increased, such as when played over a large geographic area. Thus, although an extremely large number of unique game card faces may be produced (e.g. 3003.sup.5 as mentioned above) for distribution among the players, as the number of players and game cards in use increases, the length of a game before a winner results becomes very short, and the number of games with simultaneous winners as a given number is called ("repeat" winners) increases.
In bingo as ordinarily implemented and played there is little ability to readily control the average length of a game or the number of "repeat" winners. Only limited control is achieved through varying the size of the number set, for example by increasing the size of the number set from 1 through 75 to 1 through 90.
Ordinary bingo has a related shortcoming in the opposite situation, that is, where there are a relatively few number of players such as in a casino situation where a relatively small number of players are playing. An example would be an attempt to implement a bingo game in a casino environment with a relatively small number of players at individual video terminals tied to a communications network. If ordinary bingo were employed, with its inherent lack of control over the average duration of play or number of "repeat" winners, such a game could be relatively uninteresting as "calls" could be made without any player being able to "mark" a game face, and the games could become unduly long.
To add interest to ordinary bingo, different pattern versions are played during a gaming session. Nevertheless, it would be desirable to increase the number of "versions" available.
Advantages of ordinary bingo include that the game is relatively easy to play and enjoys wide acceptance and popularity. Bingo additionally requires a certain amount of skill and dexterity. Whatever the reasons, bingo has proved, over time, to be an enduring and popular game.